A God-King's Perspective
by mmooch
Summary: **Part of the 'Telling a Different Way' series** How would Illyria explain demons and Slayers?


**A God-King's ****Perspective**

Summary: **Part of the 'Telling a Different Way' series** How would Illyria explain demons and Slayers?

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way. **Wee bit of violence here; after all, this is Illyria we're talking about.**

Timeline: While Ba'al had Jack and was torturing him. The Potentials were never activated; not sure if that's because it hasn't had a chance to happen or if that storyline just went AU.

Challenge: #5745 '_'The World is Older Than You Know'_...remix' by GottaLUVmyth.

Thanks to my betas: unbeta'd this time.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Brad Wright, Jonathan Glassner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

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Ba'al's torture chamber

Now that he had one of his hated nemeses in his grasp, Ba'al all but bounced in glee. "Bow before your god!" he commanded in his Goa'uld-ish voice.

Despite the pain he was in, Jack couldn't help snarking, "Can't you guys come up with something new? All the time, it's 'bow' and 'your god'. Just once I'd like-"

"Silence, you insignificant worm!" a new voice commanded from the doorway.

Ba'al was startled by the newcomer – especially when he saw she wore the same uniform as O'Neill. He ignored the alarm he felt in what could laughingly be called his 'soul'. She was rather attractive, if not as buxom as he preferred in his consorts. Her attitude indicated she might make a wonderful queen – and that was _without_ a symbiote in her. "At least one of you has a speck of intelligence," he commented charmingly.

"I believe she was talking to you," Jack replied, hoping he was right. He smiled through bleeding lips at his teammate. "Nice to see you again, Illyria." Then he was a little stunned to realize he was telling the truth.

Ever since that damned sarcophagus they confiscated on its way to LA turned their newest team member, Fred Burkle, into Illyria, Jack could barely stand to look at her. To make matters worse, she decided she 'liked' him and declared he was her pet and guide. After a lengthy conversation with the Slayer and her Watcher, Jack realized pet wasn't such a bad thing to be with an Old One.

Fortunately, the former God-King still had the memories of Fred and accepted Buffy's suggestion to learn about humanity from SG-1. Apparently, the Slayer was someone marginally respected by Illyria…for muck.

Taking in the evidence of torture on Jack's body, Illyria's eyes narrowed in rage, yet she spoke calmly, as if she were talking about dinner plans, "You have harmed my Qwa'ha Xahn; for that, I will rip off your limbs one by one and feed them to you."

"You cannot harm a god!" Ba'al bluffed; the alarm in his soul had risen to screeching levels now.

"As if you are anything more than the muck at my feet," the former God-King scoffed dismissively. "Your kind sprang from the pus which oozed from the weakest of my brothers. You are vermin; pests to be ground underfoot."

As grateful as he was that she was saving him, Jack still was a bit sickened by her habit of using the most disturbing descriptions imaginable. "What did I say about disgusting imagery? Pus?" he asked with a grimace. She _was_ speaking metaphorically, right?

Illyria was used to her pet's distaste at the way she spoke. Only the Jaffa her shell was drawn to didn't flinch when she talked about her past. If she felt the need to choose a consort, he would be the least disagreeable. "But it is accurate. When I killed G'uld, the creatures known as the Goa'uld emerged from the pus coming out of his wounds." She attempted to think of a comparison her Qwa'ha Xahn would understand. "Like those bugs you humans call 'cockroaches'."

Ba'al's arrogance overruled his common sense, which was screaming at him to run away while the attractive woman was distracted. "That is untrue! We have ruled the universe since the beginning!" he exclaimed on behalf of all Goa'uld.

"Hardly. Even the ones known as the gatebuilders preceded you in your current form. You need another creature to even hope to rule over others. My brothers and I were around when the gatebuilders were nothing more than a speck in the primordial ooze. It was they that created the Deeper Well that eventually imprisoned the greater gods such as myself," Illyria admitted in annoyance. If they were still around, she would drink from their skulls.

Jack was impressed…and a little confused. "How did they die out if they were able to imprison you?"

Even though she had been in the Deeper Well, Illyria still knew what had happened in the millenium that followed. It had taken almost 1000 years for the Well to completely shut her off from her surroundings. "Their arrogance was their undoing," she said, not noticing the small glint in Jack's eyes which indicated he was a little amused about the irony of Illyria discussing someone else's arrogance. However, he was smart enough not to let on though.

"They counted too much on their science and the knowledge that came from it. The lessers among my brothers guarded the secrets to magick, something the gatebuilders' science could not overcome. It wasn't until the lesser gods were in danger that they created the half-breeds known as vampires. Then they made portals to other dimensions and left, waiting for the vampires to wipe out the gatebuilders so they could return," she continued.

Now that he had her talking about this stuff, Jack knew Daniel would never forgive him for not finding out everything he could. "But what about the Slayer?" he asked, fighting back the pain of his bonds.

Finally deciding to listen to that alarm in his soul, Ba'al attempted to blend into the shadows and make his escape. Unfortunately for him, Illyria sped over to Ba'al and literally ripped out his spine. "Would you like this for a trophy?" Jack grimaced and shook his head, wisely keeping his mouth shut. Just because she sort of liked him, didn't mean that she wouldn't turn on him if he insulted her too much. Putting the spine down with a regretful glance, she continued their previous conversation, "You asked about the Slayer."

"Yeah," he confirmed.

As she freed her pet, Illyria explained, "There was one gatebuilder who thought beyond the bounds of science. He studied what he could of magick and used it to create the Slayer. It was his hope that if it worked once, he could create an army of Slayers to wipe out all the vampires."

Jack perked up at the idea of an army of Slayers – albeit it _older_ ones. And he would like for them to volunteer. "What went wrong?"

"Nothing. The cost was simply too great to use more than once," she remarked, not seeing it as a failure, per se. The only mistake the gatebuilder made was not taking precautions for something like that. "In creating the Slayer, a great plague began which threatened to destroy the gatebuilders. It took many centuries for the ranks of vampires and humans to recover after that. I doubt anyone has dared try to force the creation of another Slayer since, although you may want to ask the Watcher," Illyria suggested, of course referring to Giles. He was the Watcher and Buffy was the Slayer, regardless of the fact there were others who share the titles.

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A/N: The 'old' Illyria might be considered a bad guy, but I figured the Fred-influenced one is a bit softer…relatively speaking.


End file.
